There may be a couple more in the pot, so stay tuned. I will be tweeting each post when it goes up, so check there or on the GYW fan page on Facebook for up-to-the-minute announcements of tour happenings.

While I try to survive post-TNNA, book tour and pre-Visionary Retreat madness (yes, it's that time of year again for Cat Bordhi's awesome retreat for self-publishing authors), I am in fact getting some knitting done.

Here's a peek at the first sock design for my next book, which will feature profiles of and socks designed for indie dyer yarns.

I know, blurry and unspecific, but I'm trying to keep it mysterious. It's a lovely skein from Serendipitous Ewe, who's quickly becoming one of my new fave indie dyers. I'm kicking around the idea of releasing a few patterns from the book ahead of time as $5 downloads, like Janel Laidman does with her books. What do you all think? Would you be interested?

I'm also spending lots of time thinking about knitting - people often ask where I get my inspiration, and a lot of times I have it sitting on my desk! Here's what the top of my scanner looks like right now:

The front three are waiting for me to turn them into socks and a lacy something for Sandra Singh (these are exclusive vampire-inspired colorways, also from Serendipitous Ewe). The lovely dark yarn cake in the back is from Abstract Fiber and will also go in the new book, once I figure what in the world to do with it. It is unbelievably gorgeous, but the rich, saturated color is not necessarily the easiest to design with (or photograph!). I'm up for the challenge, though!

As I stare longingly at these lovelies, I'm working diligently to get the last couple TNNA-released patterns graded and to my tech editors. Wanna see my notes?

Such fun! This is what I go through to make sure everything's nicely centered on all sizes of Valencia. Don't you wish you could have that much fun? You can - volunteer to do this grading for me so I can go watch Season 3 of Nip/Tuck, which I just got from the library! The only thing that saves it from crazy-making is the fact that someday it means you all will be able to knit this for your own selves:

About Me

Welcome to the wild & wooly world of knitwear designer Chrissy Gardiner. I'm a mom of two who spends as much time as possible knitting and designing knitting patterns. I have been published in various books and magazines as well as printing my own pattern line, Gardiner Yarn Works. I published my first book, Toe-Up!, in the summer of 2009. It's about socks, of course!